Bitcoin-Central Is Now The World's First Bitcoin Bank...Kind Of

Last week, Bitcoin-Central, a Bitcoin exchange and storage service provided by the French company, Paymium, made a huge announcement. In essence, they said that they will now legally be able to carry out all of the functions of a payment service provider (such as Paypal or Dwolla)—with "legally" being the key word here. The truth is that it looks like a bank and it talks like a bank. But it's not really a bank. But that's okay. For the moment, let's just talk about appearances. Because in this case they are very important. Bitcoin is a digital currency that was built to operate completely outside the influence of governments and financial institutions. Bitcoins, the unit of currency, are created, transferred and secured exclusively by the people who run Bitcoin software. By offering regulated banking services, Bitcoin-Central has torn a little hole into the fabric of the i...